How to start an Email Marketing List to Build your Business

Starting an email marketing list is an absolutely critical marketing piece for start-ups, online business owners, and really for any business because it converts leads to clients unlike any other form of digital marketing.

So if you are wondering “Where do I even start with email marketing?” Let me take you through the steps of how to start an email marketing list so that you can start building your business.

Why start an Email Marketing List?

You might think you don’t need an email list if you have a lot of social followers.

But, if you think about it - social media platforms are not your platforms. All those followers and engagements you have with people on social media could be gone in a heartbeat if your profile gets closed down.

I've actually seen this happen to a number of people, so it’s not just a “what if.” This is a legitimate risk to your business.

Building Your Subscriber List

What you want to do instead is to build your subscriber list. Your aim here is to build a relationship based not only on trust (because they parted with their email address) but one of value - where you provide value to them which ultimately leads to sales.

Many people in the start-up phase of business make the mistake of focusing their efforts on non-income generating activities first.

Instead, you need to focus on the lean approach to online business where the primary activities we focus on are income generating.

And building your email marketing list is the starting point for that.

4 Key Elements for starting an Email Marketing List

There are 4 key things you need to start building your email list:

1. An opt-in offer to exchange for email addresses
2. A landing page for subscribers to sign up
3. An email nurture sequence (which is built in an email autoresponder)
4. A place to share that information, such as a social media platform

Creating the Opt-In

What is an opt-in?

An opt-in is simply a valuable piece of content that somebody will be willing to share their email address with you in order to receive it.

Some people in the start-up phase of online business might think, “Why would I share some of my best content for free?”

However, offering something that has true value is how we show potential customers what will be available behind the door of becoming a subscriber (or a customer).
That’s why it’s important to offer really high value content that isn’t available anywhere else.

Here are a few opt-in lead magnet examples that you could use to start attracting leads to your email marketing list:

• Free guide
• Free checklist
• Free video

Once you’ve created your opt-in (aka lead magnet or freebie) and packaged it up ready for delivery via email, then you can move to your next step, which is creating the landing page.

Creating a Landing Page

A landing page is what tells people a little bit about the opt-in you are offering and it’s where they can sign up to your email list in order to receive that opt-in.

And there are a few elements that need to be included on the landing page (aka squeeze page):

Outcomes

To encourage people to subscribe, your landing page needs to describe some of the outcomes they can realise with your opt-in content.

Because at the moment when visitors are on your landing page, you want them to make the decision to click that button and give you their first name and email address (at minimum).

So show them how your content will help them solve their problem so they want what you are offering.

Call to Action

You don't want to distract from the main purpose - which is for them to actually click.

That’s where your Call to Action (CTA) comes in.

The call to action is the wording on your landing page that’s going to make readers create that connection to, “Oh yes, I want this. Let me click this button.”

Subscribe Form

Your landing page needs a clear way for somebody to exchange their email address for the gift you're offering them. This is usually a snippet of code from your email marketing platform (such as Mailerlite, MailChimp or ActiveCampaign) you can paste into the page that creates a subscription form.

Then once they have given you their email, you want them to automatically receive their gift - as well as additional emails going forward.

Email Nurture Sequence

After they click the button and provide their contact information, this is where your email autoresponder takes over.

It not only sends out the opt-in content to the subscriber but it actually sends a sequence of engaging emails, as well.

When someone gives you their email address, you need to honour that process by giving them more value. Give them the opt-in they signed up for and then provide additional information that will support that opt-in content.

For example, in one of my opt-ins you can get a downloadable guide that shows you how to run your business for less than 35 US dollars a month. Then, in the second email, I send a video that walks through the flow diagram in that guide.

So I hope you can see how you can add more value in your email sequence.

Some people call this a ‘nurture sequence’ or any other type of sequence. But basically, it is a set number of emails that lead the person further forward in their journey with you as the provider.

Sharing Your Opt-In Offer

Once you have your opt-in content created, your landing page built, and your email autoresponder sequence set up, it’s time to start promoting.

Start by creating several promotional posts you can share on social media.
Think about the information your ideal clients are looking for. You want them to read your post and think, “Oh, she’s talking to me!”

It’s important that your messaging is well-written and resonates with your potential clients. And, the imagery you use is important, too.

Sometimes people don’t want to use images because the hook of the message is very clear. You might think your post doesn’t need an image.

But the truth is a lot of us are visual. I know I'm very visual and I often notice the image before I actually read the text. So you may be speaking to me when you use those images!

Preferably, you’re going to use images of yourself, because as an entrepreneur, you want to create a connection to you. But sometimes it may be appropriate to use topical or content-related images.

If you belong to Facebook groups, you may be able to share your offer on the days that are allowed in that group (make sure you follow the group rules). Sometimes groups have a Freebie Day or a Market Day when you can share your offer.

Whether you do it through Facebook groups, on your own social media profiles, or with adverts, you want to be regularly offering your opt-in for people to organically join your list.

Building your Business with an Email Marketing List

Let’s recap. To start building your business with an email marketing list, you must have these 4 elements in place:

1. Opt-in Offer - a piece of valuable content not available elsewhere
2. Landing Page - a page where subscribers can sign up to receive your offer
3. Email Nurture Sequence - an automated series of emails
4. Somewhere to share your offer - social media, website, or other places

I hope this overview helps you see how building a list of subscribers can be a powerful way to grow your business without depending upon the arbitrary rules of social media.

To get more in-depth on this topic, sign up for my free Email Marketing training Fabulous First Opt-ins here!

In this FREE training learn how to accelerate your list and business growth with your first opt-in.

Stop the procrastination, turn your creative ideas into business growth with simple and easy opt-ins even if tech baffles you!